Battlefield 4, FIFA 14 free to play concerns

It looks like Battlefield Premium is just a taste of interesting things to come for EA’s number one first person shooter franchise. After launching the one-time subscription fee to Battlefield 3 players, EA has recently come out and said that a free to play style platform is the future for the company.

That also means that we’re not just talking about Battlefield 4 here, as it could also potentially effect other games such as FIFA 14 and future titles in the Need for Speed and Mass Effect franchises. It is not the first time that EA has toyed with the idea of the free to play platform, but as far as we know it is the first time that the publisher has specifically said that freemium ‘is the future’.

Here is what EA interactive senior VP Nick Earl said recently when speaking in an interview with MCV:

“The future is not about one-time payments, the future is about freemium. A decent number of people convert to paying and they may not pay a lot but most of them actually pay more than you’d think.”

That first part is particularly interesting, as that tells us that EA doesn’t want to continue with their Premium style service for Battlefield in the future. Premium is a one-time payment offer for Battlefield 3, but according to what Nick Earl has just said, it may be scrapped for the future.

Although initially having doubts, we thought Premium was a pretty good offer in the end and all we can think about now is having two weeks of early access to Armored Kill. What will happen after Battlefield 3 though, will EA go straight into a free to play model with Battlefield 4?

It sounds ridiculous perhaps, but you can bet that EA are paying close attention to the likes of DUST 514 to see now their freemium platform pans out. How would they be able to translate this kind of model to their FIFA franchise though – get a below par team of player for free, but use real money to buy the best players perhaps?

Let us know your thoughts on EA’s view that free to play games are the future for the industry. Do you agree with this move or are you completely against it?